By Fai Cassian Ndi
A two-day inter-regional workshop aimed at empowering some 32
youth leaders of the North West, West and South West Regions on Extractive
Industries Transparency Initiative –EITI has raised pertinent points on the corrupt practices in the oil, gas and mining sector which have become endemic. Participants expressed fear that the most outstanding challenge is not on the interpretation of EITI reports but on how youth pressure can control the use of revenue accrued from oil, gas and extraction in a country like Cameroon when figures are a taboo or when management of revenue and extraction is in the hands of the big thieves, mostly politicians and
multi-internationals. Organized by Dynamique Mondiale des Jeunes-DMJ in collaboration with the
World Bank, the Bamenda workshop is also geared to promote the rapid adoption
and exploitation of the new EITI standard by young people so much so that they
are able to make critical readings of EITI reports. Yet, some participants
during the workshop expressed doubts whether they would ever have the opportunity
to question, interpret and control the use of extraction revenues. This is so
due to the fact that in Cameroon, nobody knows how many companies are carrying
out explorations and not to talk of exploitation. More so, another worry also
steamed from the fact that local government structures like councils hardly
organize public hearings whereby youths could ask question on the management of
resources. In the North West for example, BOCOM Exploration Company is
currently carrying out iron ore exploration at Mayo-Binka (Nkambe Central) and
Petroleum exploration in Mbembe (Ako Sub division) in Donga Mantung Division.
Yet no youth leader from this part of the North West Region was present. From
all indications, the Bamenda workshop was addressing a wrong audience. The Eye
is aware that in seeking solutions, EITI believes that all stakeholders have
important and relevant contributions to make in order to encourage high
standards of transparency and accountability in public life but this action can
only be sustainable when the right targeted group is reached. Implicitly, the
reason why local communities have no knowledge on the EITI abound high. However,
the fact that its organizers couldn’t use the Cameroon National Youth Council
that oversees the activities of youth groups in the North West Region speaks
volume. A question which is hungry for answers is whether the organization
didn’t fall into wrong hands. However, it should be recalled that Bamenda
workshop is the second in the series of workshops that would be organized
nationwide to build the capacity of youth leaders. Note should be taken that
Cameroon joined the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative in March 2005
and was accepted as an EITI candidate country on September 27, 2007. It was on
October 17, 2013 became a fully compliant member country. This is so due to the
fact that Cameroon failed to validate its candidacy in October 2010 and
February 2012. Since then, and in compliance with EITI process, Cameroon has
published six conciliation reports of volumes and figures under the impetus of
a Tripartite Monitoring Committee made up of representatives of the state,
civil society and extraction companies. This initiative which seeks to promote
good governance and transparency in the management of revenue from the
exploitation of subsoil resources places a lot of emphasizes on criterion 1 of
its Rules which states that: all
significant payments made by companies to governments, in respect of oil, gas,
and mining exploitation and all material revenues received by government from
oil, gas and mining companies, are published and regularly disseminated to the
public in an accessible, comprehensive and comprehensible form.
It should be recalled that before Cameroon became a member,
information on the production of oil and gas was a highly classified. Only few
state personalities were privy to it.
When News Breaks Out, We Break In. Minute by Minute Report on Cameroon and Africa
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